Urban decay and subsequent 'regeneration' have been deliberately used in the USA to disperse poor, mainly black communities, both to disrupt communal solidarity and subvert organised movements for social change, and maximise private profit.With the levels of gentrification and development many communities are currently facing in London, it is timely to reprint these classic accounts of how military and political powers, and business interests, devised 'Spatial Deconcentration' to maintain social control.